PLUCKY FLIGHT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 February 1939, Page 7

PLUCKY FLIGHT

MADE BY BRITISH ENGINEER WIFE IN MOSCOW. LONG SEPARATION ENDED. The remarkable story of a young Englishman who, separated from his Russian wife for four years and refused admission to enter Russia to rejoin her. flew into the country from Sweden in an old machine after only seven weeks’ tuition, has aroused the greatest interest. In Moscow he was fined £l5O or one month’s imprisonment in default, and banished from the country for five years. The Englishman in question, Mr Brian Grover. 37-year-old son of Major and Mrs W. M. Grover, of Jordans, Bucks, married Ilena Golius, descendant of an aristocratic family in Russia, when he worked as an engineer in the Soviet Union years ago. When he was transferred abroad, the Soviet Government would not let the wife leave. The years passed. Occasionally, in his fiat in Sloane Square, Chelsea, Mr Grover received a letter from his wife. One day last autumn she wrote that she had no food and no money. He threw up his employment, learned to fly at Heston, bought a £2OO light aeroplane, and, with a pilot friend, flew in November to Sweden. Next day he evaded his friend and flew off alone, though still a novice pilot. GOOD IMPRESSION MADE. Mr Grover pleaded guilty to the mild charge of illegally flying across the Russian frontier “without counterrevolutionary or treacherous intention,”- said the Moscow correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. He stated that “out of despair” he had deliberately broken Soviet laws, because he wished to rejoin his wife, call the attention of the Central Soviet authorities to their case, and. if possible, get her out of the country. He had, he said, been trying to get his wife out or to go to Moscow to join her ever since he left Russia in 1934. Towering above the five Ogpu guards, Mr Grover made a good impression in Court. He was obviously under great emotional and nervous strain, but he answered the questions of the youthful presiding judge, a “young Communist,” in a quiet, straightforward way, in halting Russian. He was occasionally helped out by one of the-worst interpreters imaginable.

HUSBAND’S F’IDELITY'& COURAGE. The chief judge, by his questions, allowed Mr Grover to tell his story fully and convincingly. He was still dressed in his flying clothes. In a final plea before the judges retired to draft their verdict, Mr Grover appealed to the Soviet Government to be allowed to live with his wife either in Russia or abroad.

A moving story of courage and fidelity was revealed to the Court. Mr Grover, at 8.30 a.m. on November 13, at Stockholm, took off alone on his first real flight in the worst possible Baltic, weather. He flew blind for six' hours, and then made a lucky landing in a field about 100 miles from Moscow and 650 miles from his starting point. He induced local peasants to guide him to the nearest police station, where he asked to be sent on to the capital. He was taken into custody, as he had no Soviet visa or flying permit.

After questions had been asked in the House of Commons about Mr Grover, the Embassy in Moscow received instructions from the Foreign Office to follow the case carefully. Although according to Soviet practice Mr Grover was held in solitary confinement after his arrest, the Embassy obtain permission for Mr Maclean, one of the secretaries, to see him at the Lubianka prison, the Ogpu headquarters, last week.

JUDGES ASTONISHED & PUZZLED. The sentence was. by Soviet standards, extremely mild. Russians caught attempting to cross the frontier, for whatever motive, risk being shot. The judges were obviously astonished and puzzled at Mr Grover's modesty about the way he had defied not only Soviet laws but the elements. “How could you,” the presiding judge asked, “a mere pupil with only seven weeks’ training, risk flying blind that great distance?” Mr Grover answered: “Well, it was not really flying blind, because I could see the sun above the clouds. I flew as high as I could, at about 10,000 ft. I knew my aeroplane was not good enough to bring me all the way to Moscow. I flew as far as I could, and when the sun began to set I came down through the clouds and landed.” When asked-whether he had realised that a criminal charge might be brought against him. Mr Grover answered: “I was in such great despair that I decided to take the risk.” Mr Grover was released shortly after his trial and with his wife arrived back in London on January 8 They were enthusiastically welcomed Mr Grover said he discovered that hir flight was unnecessary, because the Soviet had arranged for his wife to go to England, within six months.